After a three and half hour standoff, Berkeley police arrested a 65-year old man on Wednesday who had barricaded himself in a house on Parker Street armed with a machete and saw.
Kamal Abdul Khalid was taken into custody about 10:20 am after giving himself up to police. He was taken to a hospital for a mental health examination and was later booked for burglary, according to Sgt. Mary Kusmiss of the Berkeley Police Department.
The incident started around 7 am when a man living in the 1300 block of Parker Street called police to report there was a burglar in his home. The resident grabbed a baseball bat to defend himself and went outside. The suspect grabbed a machete and saw and also went outside. When Khalid saw police approaching, he allegedly ran into the back yard of a house across the street, up some stairs, and broke a window to climb into a vacant apartment, according to police.
Berkeley police closed off a four-block area for more than three hours.
As SWAT teams started to come into the unit, Khalid came outside and dropped the machete and saw. He resisted being put in handcuffs but was eventually subdued, said Sgt. Kusmiss. He has suffered some cuts on his hands and arms from breaking the window, she said.
